Most museums in North America continued steadily on the road to recovery, though at this point many are considering 2023 attendance as their new baseline. Collectively, North American museums grew 34% over 2022 and achieved 90% of 2019 levels. Recovery levels, growth, and museum performance do not appear to vary based upon geography, museum type, or whether or not they have free or paid admission. Instead, recovery appears to be most closely tied to reliance on tourist markets, tourism recovery, and reinvestment into new visitor experiences.

See how North American Museums fared in 2023 compared to previous years:

Top 20 Museums in North America
Rank	Museum, Location	Change	2023	2022	2019
1	The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA	67.2%	5,364,000	3,209,000	6,770,000
2	American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA	NA	5,000,000	NA	5,000,000
3	National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA	12.8%	4,400,000	I 3,900,000	4,200,000
4	National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA	17.6%	3,830,000	3,256,000	4,074,000
5	Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA	29.7%	2,840,000	2,190,000	1,992,000
6	National 9/11 Museum, New York NY, USA	NA	2,265,000	NA	NA
7	National Museum of American History, Washington, DC, USA	16.7%	2,100,000	1,800,000	2,800,000
8	National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC, USA	353.5%	1,900,000	419,000	3,200,000
9	Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX, USA	5.9%	1,800,000	1,700,000	1,974,000
10	California Science Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA	0.4%	1,700,000	1,694,000	2,200,000
11	National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC, USA	46.4%	1,600,000	1,093,000	2,000,000
12	Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL, USA	30.2%	1,476,000	1,134,000	1,388,000
13	Smithsonian American Art Museum (with the Renwick Gallery), Washington, DC, USA	27.3%	1,400,000	1,100,000	2,000,000
13	Museum of Science, Boston, MA, USA	24.7%	1,400,000	1,123,000	1,458,000
15	The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA	27.5%	1,322,000	1,037,000	1,666,000
16	Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO, USA	13.5%	1,306,000	1,151,000	1,487,000
17	Space Center Houston, Houston, TX, USA	NA	1,270,000	NA	NA
18	The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA	37.6%	1,251,000	909,000	1,439,000
19	California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA	28.9%	1,245,000	966,000	1,321,000
20	National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington, DC, USA	9.1%	1,200,000	1,100,000	NA
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE FROM 2023 AND 2022 (PUBLISHED PRIOR YEAR TOTAL)		33.8%	44,689,000	29,657,000	NA
2023 ATTENDANCE AS % OF 2019 PUBLISHED ATTENDANCE		89.8%

Source: TEA/AECOM 2024 Theme Index and Museum Index: The Global Attractions Attendance Report